NinjaVideo founder pleads guilty to criminal copyright infringement

Two weeks ago, four Americans were charged with running the movie-sharing site …

The federal government seized the domain name for online movie-sharing site NinjaVideo.net in June 2010, but it didn't file criminal copyright charges against the site admins until two weeks ago. Now, it has secured a guilty plea from NinjaVideo cofounder Matthew David Howard Smith, a 23-year old from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Smith ran the site from 2008 until its shutdown in 2010. According to the government, Smith has admitted to signing ad deals that grossed $500,000 during that period, and he was personally responsible for designing many of the site's features.

"While visitors to the website were permitted to download infringing content for free, they were also invited to make donations, which provided them access to private forum boards that contained a wider range of infringing material," said the government. "A premium member obtained the rights to request specific infringing content, which the NinjaVideo administrators would then locate and add to the website."

One of the other accused admins, Hana "Phara" Beshara, apparently believes that her group's widespread infringement was a "gray area" of copyright law. "We're labeled pirates. We're called thieves," she said in a recording last year before the site was seized. "We're raided and arrested and we're forced to hide behind aliases while we weave and we bob through these grey areas of laws not yet written."

Smith will be sentenced on December 16 and faces up to five years in prison. Beshara and two other Americans currently face trial in February, unless they too plead out.

In some countries it is perfectly legal to download any movie or music. Just not allowed to share it (the Netherlands). But if you live in the US, you know it's illegal.The ones making big bucks with these practices...sure, go ahead. The home user, not worth it.As it is, the copyrights are draconian at best and the power the companies seem to have to push governments so hard to go after these guys is getting scary. Add to that the ridiculous jail times.It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

In some countries it is perfectly legal to download any movie or music. Just not allowed to share it (the Netherlands). But if you live in the US, you know it's illegal.The ones making big bucks with these practices...sure, go ahead. The home user, not worth it.As it is, the copyrights are draconian at best and the power the companies seem to have to push governments so hard to go after these guys is getting scary. Add to that the ridiculous jail times.It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

I don't like to see personal use infringers being prosecuted but I have little sympathy with someone who is making money off infringement being hammered.

I just can't rationalize being mad at a company going after someone for profiting off of a product they created.

I love that the Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center's insignia is a bald eagle swooping in for the kill, much the way bald eagles in the wild are known to do with fish--including those already caught by other predators. That could be read a number of ways.

Death penalty solves nothing and RIMPAA knows that. They will just make you pay the fine at $500,000 per infringement. If you cannot afford that they will just put you (and your related family members, if deems necessary) into a slave camp (not necessary located in the US) and let you work your rate out (at 10% of the local rate). You can just play WoW farming gold in China for the rest of your life if you can lucky.

Death penalty solves nothing and RIMPAA knows that. They will just make you pay the fine at $500,000 per infringement. If you cannot afford that they will just put you (and your related family members, if deems necessary) into a slave camp (not necessary located in the US) and let you work your rate out (at 10% of the local rate). You can just play WoW farming gold in China for the rest of your life if you can lucky.

Up to five years in prison for a couple folks who made half a million for infringing copyright. My bet is they will be bankrupted when this is all over.

And yet we've got financial crisis folks like Angelo Mozilo, who will never see the inside of a prison cell despite having caused more damage to more people. He's still sitting on hundreds of millions, even after being "fined" by the SEC.

America has a two-tier justice system, and Mr. Smith and Ms Beshara are in the bottom tier.

They ran a business providing content for which they did not have the rights to distribute. Whatever one thinks of copyrights it is hard to see how they could claim what they were doing was not illegal.

Up to five years in prison for a couple folks who made half a million for infringing copyright. My bet is they will be bankrupted when this is all over.

And yet we've got financial crisis folks like Angelo Mozilo, who will never see the inside of a prison cell despite having caused more damage to more people. He's still sitting on hundreds of millions, even after being "fined" by the SEC.

America has a two-tier justice system, and Mr. Smith and Ms Beshara are in the bottom tier.

In their defense, they were trying to get to the top tier before getting busted.

Up to five years in prison for a couple folks who made half a million for infringing copyright. My bet is they will be bankrupted when this is all over.

And yet we've got financial crisis folks like Angelo Mozilo, who will never see the inside of a prison cell despite having caused more damage to more people. He's still sitting on hundreds of millions, even after being "fined" by the SEC.

America has a two-tier justice system, and Mr. Smith and Ms Beshara are in the bottom tier.

The problem is always identifying the specific criminal law that someone like Mozilo broke. If he could be prosecuted for fraud for instance I have little doubt that an enterprising prosecutor (especially one with political ambitions) would go after him. It is not so much a two tier justice system as it is laws inadequate to the task.

Death penalty solves nothing and RIMPAA knows that. They will just make you pay the fine at $500,000 per infringement. If you cannot afford that they will just put you (and your related family members, if deems necessary) into a slave camp (not necessary located in the US) and let you work your rate out (at 10% of the local rate). You can just play WoW farming gold in China for the rest of your life if you can lucky.

Yes, I'm sure this is precisely what will happen.

If you don't meet your quota, they'll string you up and beat you with pvc pipes! But 5 years even with a plea bargain? That seems extreme. Was there even a plea bargain or did he just admit guilt and hope for mercy? Like many have said, far worse criminals have gotten away with far less.

...Add to that the ridiculous jail times. It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

No kidding, you can get less time killing, stealing, torturing, and molesting your fellow human beings in reality then you'll can get watching the same thing from an illegal download. That's seriously F-d up!

Up to five years in prison for a couple folks who made half a million for infringing copyright. My bet is they will be bankrupted when this is all over.

And yet we've got financial crisis folks like Angelo Mozilo, who will never see the inside of a prison cell despite having caused more damage to more people. He's still sitting on hundreds of millions, even after being "fined" by the SEC.

America has a two-tier justice system, and Mr. Smith and Ms Beshara are in the bottom tier.

You don't see any issue with someone making half a mil off of someone elses product?

I am surprised the corporations involved didn't just ask him for a cut of the profits. But i guess the formats used where not "properly protected" against format shifts and so did not fit their ren-masked-as-sale business strategy.

If you don't meet your quota, they'll string you up and beat you with pvc pipes! But 5 years even with a plea bargain? That seems extreme. Was there even a plea bargain or did he just admit guilt and hope for mercy? Like many have said, far worse criminals have gotten away with far less.

Well, I believe he'll be eligible for parole in half that, with credit for time served.

Also, I think the ridiculously short sentences handed out for violent criminals are an issue, but that it's those sentences that should be increased not this one necessarily decreased.

...Add to that the ridiculous jail times. It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

No kidding, you can get less time killing, stealing, torturing, and molesting your fellow human beings in reality then you'll can get watching the same thing from an illegal download. That's seriously F-d up!

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

The copyright monopoly has corrupted the justice system, and thats why it should not be respected and in fact harmed in as many ways as possible.

...Add to that the ridiculous jail times. It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

No kidding, you can get less time killing, stealing, torturing, and molesting your fellow human beings in reality then you'll can get watching the same thing from an illegal download. That's seriously F-d up!

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

The copyright monopoly has corrupted the justice system, and thats why it should not be respected and in fact harmed in as many ways as possible.

If this is true then Sweden is seriously messed up wrt its protection, or lack thereof of its citizens against the lowest of the low.

You don't see any issue with someone making half a mil off of someone elses product?

This isn't some personal no money exchanged hands ordeal here.

How much money do you think was left with them after the infrastructure/bandwidth/works done on the website?

I'm not saying it's ok, I'm saying this is not the money he MADE IN HIS POCKETS.

I'd think it's a safe bet to say that $500k will more than cover the infrastructure costs. Just the fact that he was making money off it makes it a lot harder to sympathize with him, and frankly these are the types of people the RIAA should be going after, not personal use infringers.

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

If this is true why are you wasting your time championing something as comparatively innocuous as digital freeloading? Shouldn't you be channeling all that nerd rage towards the much bigger issues apparently endemic to your justice system? Where are your priorities?

MAFIAAfire wrote:

The copyright monopoly has corrupted the justice system, and thats why it should not be respected and in fact harmed in as many ways as possible.

You don't see any issue with someone making half a mil off of someone elses product?

This isn't some personal no money exchanged hands ordeal here.

How much money do you think was left with them after the infrastructure/bandwidth/works done on the website?

I'm not saying it's ok, I'm saying this is not the money he MADE IN HIS POCKETS.

I'd think it's a safe bet to say that $500k will more than cover the infrastructure costs. Just the fact that he was making money off it makes it a lot harder to sympathize with him, and frankly these are the types of people the RIAA should be going after, not personal use infringers.

Please explain in detail how one makes $500K in 18 payments as explained in the indictment from amounts as high as $20 from ads.

You don't see any issue with someone making half a mil off of someone elses product?

This isn't some personal no money exchanged hands ordeal here.

How much money do you think was left with them after the infrastructure/bandwidth/works done on the website?

I'm not saying it's ok, I'm saying this is not the money he MADE IN HIS POCKETS.

I'd think it's a safe bet to say that $500k will more than cover the infrastructure costs. Just the fact that he was making money off it makes it a lot harder to sympathize with him, and frankly these are the types of people the RIAA should be going after, not personal use infringers.

Please explain in detail how one makes $500K in 18 payments as explained in the indictment from amounts as high as $20 from ads.

You could try providing an actual link to the indictment. Otherwise the amount itself isn't very relevant to my point.

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

If this is true why are you wasting your time championing something as comparatively innocuous as digital freeloading? Shouldn't you be channeling all that nerd rage towards the much bigger issues apparently endemic to your justice system? Where are your priorities?

You might want to check on how much copyright has gotten in the heads of the politicians as a problem in this country.

MAFIAAfire wrote:

The copyright monopoly has corrupted the justice system, and thats why it should not be respected and in fact harmed in as many ways as possible.

Holy non-sequitur batman![/quote]

Actually, it's not a non-sequitur. You've changed the argument to try not to answer his question, instead choosing to set up a strawman against him. Good job. MAFIAAFire's point stands. Yours has no basis.

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

If this is true why are you wasting your time championing something as comparatively innocuous as digital freeloading? Shouldn't you be channeling all that nerd rage towards the much bigger issues apparently endemic to your justice system? Where are your priorities?

Yes, this is one of the reasons we do what we do.It's extremely hard to change the laws when you dont own a couple of politicians and its not in our field of expertise. On the other hand, tech is, and we intend to use our professional skills to really wreck what the copyright monopoly has done to justice systems around the world.Guys like Rick Falkvinge are meeting them head on in the halls of power and corruption... we are taking another route.

We had 2 releases planned but because of one dev's kid needing medical attention and our main dev still out of Sweden... both are delayed Worry not though, our next release/s are going to be much bigger than the Redirector that you hate so much (after our group comes together again)

Might depend on exactly what she was talking about. I loved that site when I was in school a few years ago- but for one thing only - TV shows. I didn't have access to a TV/DVR system, so had to watch most things online. But of course, back then the number of networks that streamed their shows online was abysmal (and crappily implemented for the most part). NinjaVideo had tv shows up about as soon as they came out and it was all located in one easy to use interface. Heck, I used to use it just to see what was coming out that day as one overall release schedule, even later when I had TV access.

I agree that making money of streaming movies is not a very gray area. However, I would argue watching broadcast TV shows is much more of one. IMHO, if they had stuck to tv shows, they would have lasted a lot longer and I would have been much happier - I'm actually ok with renting/borrowing/buying movies I'm interested in. Can anybody direct me at somebody being prosecuted for sharing JUST non-subscription tv shows (ie, I'm aware there's been issues with some premium pay content such as sports, boxing etc.)? The cases you usually hear about are almost entirely concerning movies (oh, and funimation likes to keep its hand in with the occasional anime).

Might depend on exactly what she was talking about. I loved that site when I was in school a few years ago- but for one thing only - TV shows. I didn't have access to a TV/DVR system, so had to watch most things online. But of course, back then the number of networks that streamed their shows online was abysmal (and crappily implemented for the most part). NinjaVideo had tv shows up about as soon as they came out and it was all located in one easy to use interface. Heck, I used to use it just to see what was coming out that day as one overall release schedule, even later when I had TV access.

I agree that making money of streaming movies is not a very gray area. However, I would argue watching broadcast TV shows is much more of one. IMHO, if they had stuck to tv shows, they would have lasted a lot longer and I would have been much happier - I'm actually ok with renting/borrowing/buying movies I'm interested in. Can anybody direct me at somebody being prosecuted for sharing JUST non-subscription tv shows (ie, I'm aware there's been issues with some premium pay content such as sports, boxing etc.)? The cases you usually hear about are almost entirely concerning movies (oh, and funimation likes to keep its hand in with the occasional anime).

The TVShack extradition is something you might want to look into. Basically, the admin of TVShack is to be extradited and charged with copyright infringement in the US, having never stepped foot in the US. Most of the links on TVShack were to Megavideo or another streaming site. Also, linking is legal in the UK. The US is trying to criminalize it.

...Add to that the ridiculous jail times. It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

No kidding, you can get less time killing, stealing, torturing, and molesting your fellow human beings in reality then you'll can get watching the same thing from an illegal download. That's seriously F-d up!

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

The copyright monopoly has corrupted the justice system, and thats why it should not be respected and in fact harmed in as many ways as possible.

If this is true then Sweden is seriously messed up wrt its protection, or lack thereof of its citizens against the lowest of the low.

It's not just Sweden, its a global problem.

Take the US as an example (as I am guessing you are from there - but even if thats not true the example stands) you can be dinged up to $150,000 per file, taking an example of just 12 songs on a CD that brings it up to:$1,800,0000 and 5 years (or more in prison).

Now compare that to what you get for drunk driving, harassment, Sexual exhibition in a public place,Harassment in order to obtain sexual favors,The desecration of a corpse in a cemetery/attacking a corpse,Destruction of other people’s property,Serious offenses related to animal abuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vi ... stigations)

How fair and balanced is the "crime" of downloading/sharing a 60 year old CD with the above?

...Add to that the ridiculous jail times. It basically has become a business on its own: prosecuting copyright infringers.

No kidding, you can get less time killing, stealing, torturing, and molesting your fellow human beings in reality then you'll can get watching the same thing from an illegal download. That's seriously F-d up!

(In Sweden, basing on past cases)Downloading child porn gets you less.Raping a woman gets you less.Raping a preteen gets you less.Fisting a woman in the face will get you less.Making child porn will get you less.Distributing child porn will get you less.

The copyright monopoly has corrupted the justice system, and thats why it should not be respected and in fact harmed in as many ways as possible.

If this is true then Sweden is seriously messed up wrt its protection, or lack thereof of its citizens against the lowest of the low.

It's not just Sweden, its a global problem.

Take the US as an example (as I am guessing you are from there - but even if thats not true the example stands) you can be dinged up to $150,000 per file, taking an example of just 12 songs on a CD that brings it up to:$1,800,0000 and 5 years (or more in prison).

Now compare that to what you get for drunk driving, harassment, Sexual exhibition in a public place,Harassment in order to obtain sexual favors,The desecration of a corpse in a cemetery/attacking a corpse,Destruction of other people’s property,Serious offenses related to animal abuse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vi ... stigations)

How fair and balanced is the "crime" of downloading/sharing a 60 year old CD with the above?

The crimes you just listed are not crimes of violence against humans, most especially not against minor humans. The crimes you listed in Sweden are of a different order of offense.

The crimes you just listed are not crimes of violence against humans, most especially not against minor humans. The crimes you listed in Sweden are of a different order of offense.

True, but I was just trying to show you that even in these other crimes there is no balance.You have to have some sort of balance to respect the law, once it becomes as ludicrous as it is today with regards to copyright law it's becoming more and more common to lose respect for the law.

10 years ago I would have thought twice of breaking the law , now I wouldnt hesitate to rip a CD/DVD for a friend if he asked me to or even cam a movie (not illegal in Sweden) to make a statement.

If I thought camming truly hurt the bastards (even if it was against the law) I would do it, but I hate cam prints and know it does not hurt them in the slightest so I've never done it.

Personally, I find the biggest crime to be that he's being convicted and will be sentenced up to five years in PRISON for committing a white collar crime. If we ever really want a clue as to why our prison systems are overrun, we have only to look at situations like this.

Yes, he was a bad boy. Yes, he made money being a bad boy. Teach him a lesson by taking the money and all the items it bought away. Wipe him out financially as punishment. But take away his freedom for illegal, non-harmful profiteering? (And by non-harmful I mean he killed/wounded nobody, stole from nobody. A copy is not theft. It's unlawful duplication and distribution, not theft of a product.)

We have become the criminals when we allow corporations to run our government, form our laws and run our legal system. When are we going to learn to stop being apathetic and start realizing that we're destroying our own country from within - without anyone else's help.

We didn't have to fear the Russians, but we did. We don't have to fear the Chinese or the N. Koreans, but we do. Why? Because our government says so. In reality, we should fear those in power, the very same ones who point to everyone else and say "FEAR THEM! THEY ARE THE ENEMY!" But no, instead, we put them in office, happily and willingly saying, "That's my guy, I voted for him! He's going to make a change!"

And you are half right. He WILL make a change - a change for those who have the money to back him. A change that will make him more money, give him more power.

We have a government chock full of corporate puppets, all in key political positions. We have government agents enacting laws in favor of one industry only to resign right afterward and take a job in that exact industry.